{Ali}

{Law Day 5K recap and lack of posts}

Happy Monday, friends!

I hope you had a great weekend! I had fabulous one! More about that in a minute.

I just wanted to apologize for the lack of posts this past week. My laptop crashed (for the 2^nd time!) and I'm not a big fan of our desktop computer. It's slow and is a pain in the ass to blog from. Right now it's making crazy with this post! Oh well.

That's life, right?

My posting the next week or so, will also be sparse, due to the college graduation of this boy from The University of Redlands!

I can't believe it's been 4 years already! I will have a lot to post about as soon as we return from California!

Now, on to the 5k recap!

On Saturday, I ran the 30^th Annual Law Day 5k

I work for a law firm, and the firm paid for employees to run in the race. I'm not a HUGE runner, but lately I have been trying to run more and more.

I have a secret goal of running a marathon, ½ marathon and the Ragnar Wasatch Back some day, so I am trying to run some 5ks this summer!

On Friday night I "carb loaded", with the BEST PIZZA EVAH and it did not disappoint! Soooo good!

It was a beautiful day on Saturday. Perfect for getting outside and running/walking/whatever!

The race was held on the campus of the University of Utah, which is really beautiful, with view overlooking the city.

I was a bit nervous about this 5k, since the first mile of the race is mostly all uphill. I've been battling a quad pull, and was worried how it would hold up.

The starting line:

*warning, crappy cell phone pics ahead!

When the race started, I felt okay. Each step was met with a slight pull of my quad, but I was determined. The first uphill stretch was not fun. It was crowded and I knew I started out a bit too fast, going with the other racers. I ended up walking just a bit of the hill, until the course leveled out for a minute. Literally, 1 minute! Then it was back to a huge climb, toward the sun, and it was HOT! I walked up most of the hill. I tried running, but it just wasn't happening.

Once we hit the top of the course, about 1.5 miles in, things went much smoother. The course was a little flat and we weren't running straight in to the sun. At about mile 2.3 the course was more downhill than anything. That part was nice, but you can really feel downhill running in your knees and my quad was really bothering me the last mile. Knowing that Carl and Madison would be waiting for me at the finish line was a huge motivator!
I told Carl I would probably cross the finish line somewhere around 40-45 minutes due the uphill parts of the course slowing me down. I checked my watch to try and gauge how I was doing on time, and it seems to me I was hitting the 40 minute mark with at least .5 miles to go.

I was annoyed.

But I kept on going.

Finally, the finish line was within in sight! All the people along the race route were cheering on the runners and that makes it sooo much easier to keep going! Right before the finish line I spotted Carl and Madison. Carl had my cell phone out ready to snap a picture! I gave him my cheesy smile:

And then I crossed the finish line:

My "official" time was: 36:04.25 I was 11/21 in my age group and finished 252/594

Not too bad.

I'll take it!

It really was fun, and I felt like I could have gone another couple of miles!

The rest of the weekend consisted of dinner out with Carl's family on Saturday night, which was fun!

Sunday was a day of addressing my brother's wedding invitations in calligraphy! I can't wait for his wedding in July!

Hope you had a great weekend!

I will spend the next few days getting ready for our trip to California and Tyson's graduation!

Have a FABULOUS day!

 

 

{Mother’s Day 2012}

Happy Monday y'all! I can't believe how fast May is flying by! I swear, we were just celebrating the New Year, right?

I had a FABULOUS Mother's Day yesterday. The whole weekend was just plain great!

The weather in Utah was just gorgeous! Loved it!

My brother and his finance hosted our family and her family for dinner and a Mother's Day Celebration yesterday.

We grilled Whole Foods burgers, which were so good. I'm going to have to pick some up soon!

I was in charge of bringing dessert. I'm on a cupcake kick right now, so I whipped up some Brownie Cupcakes

Quick, easy and delicious!

I was treated like a queen by Carl (and Chloe!) all day long, and I got a super nice text messages from Tyson and Madison as well!

Madison totally surprised me with these BEAUTIFUL tropical flowers and the sweetest card ever. Made my cry!

Sorry, for the crappy cell phone pics! Too lazy to break out the digital camera!

Carl and I finished off the night watching the Season Finale of Survivor. Do you watch? If so, what did you think?

All in all, it was a really a nice weekend!

Hope you had a FABULOUS weekend as well!

{Friday Phone Dump}

Happy Friday Friends!

It's been a long, long week, and I'm glad that the weekend will soon be upon us!

I haven't done a Friday Phone Dump post in a while!

Just random crappy phone photos from the past week:

Finishing up Day #5 of HELLth Week at my gym

My latest obsession! Chobani greek yogurt for breakfast or lunch, almost every day!

A very thoughtful gift my friend Traci gave me – in the midst of HELLth Week

Carl and I, at a wedding on Saturday night. So much fun!

A photo my daughter sent me via text. She and her boyfriend in Vegas. Love the devil eyes!

Didn't feel like doing my hair! Ponytail Friday?

Loving the weather and my new sandals from Tar-jay!

Chloe and Jax, just chillin'!

Any fun plans for the weekend?

A certain somebody in my family is graduating from college in a few weeks, and there is a party to get ready for!

TGIF!

 

{HELLth Week}

HELLth Week is here.

It began yesterday.

I DO NOT know if I can make it.

But I'm gonna try.

Day 1 = Survived.

BOOM.

Bring on Day 2!

By the way, do you GPP?

You should.

Life changing, I tell ya!

Happy Tuesday!

{Do you GPP?}

Do you GPP ?

If not, you should!

I promise!

It is life changing!

What is GPP, you ask?

According to Neil Anderson, the man behind GPP:

GPP Fitness training is blindly focused on helping you achieve optimal health.

To become "optimally healthy," we believe you must have balance across ALL aspects of health (mental, emotional, spiritual, social, PHYSICAL and financial).

GPP Fitness's unique training method is the most complete, effective, efficient, and safest way for you to achieve balance over all ten aspects (cardiovascular endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, agility, coordination, balance and accuracy) of PHYSICAL health. This type of training is the fastest way to decrease body fat and improve all aspects of health while improving fitness across broad time and modal domain. In other words, through proper exercise and nutrition you will be completely fit for the long and short term while being supremely capable of the known and unknown physical stressors and challenges your life may present.

It is not lost on us that many who enter within strive for more than improved PHYSICAL presence and capacity. We believe with mastery of the physical you will have new skill sets that you can use to become more successful across all other aspects of "optimal health."

I don't talk too much about fitness and health on this blog, but I am going to start posting a bit more about "my journey" and my quest, to get fit and healthy.

A week or so ago, my Zumba instructor Teresa Avua'a did a blog post on "my success story" if you'd like to read about it, go HERE. I have been going to Teresa's Zumba classes, along with Brittany Blaser Odom's classes for almost a year now.

I LOVE my Zumba! BUT, I felt like I was needed something else in addition to Zumba. Some type of strength training. The place that I Zumba at night, is also the home to GPP Fitness. I've watched everyone working out at GPP while I wait for my Zumba classes for months, and I was soooo impresses with these athletes! I wanted to give it a try!

So……I finally did!

And I LOVE it!

I feel so empowered!

Strong.

Fit.

Happy.

It's only been 4 weeks and I am amazed at how much stronger I feel.

If you are local (Salt Lake County, or Davis County), I highly encourage you to check out GPP FITNESS!

You won't be disappointed!

And just to show you what almost a year of Zumba and 4 weeks of GPP have done to transform me:

I am SO much happier and healthier!

GO FOR IT!

If you stop by GPP, make sure you tell them I sent you! J

{March Photo A Day}

I participated in the March Photo a Day Challenge that Fat Mum Slim hosted again last month.

You can see my February Photo a Day recap here

It really is a FUN idea and challenges you to take photos of the "everyday"!

Lovin' it!

Already going strong in the April Challenge!

Here is my March via cell phone photos!

Linking up with: http://www.thehouseofsmiths.com/

February in Photos

I got a late start, but I decided a few weeks in to February to participate in the February Photo a Day Challenge hosted by FatMumSlim

Here are my Photos for February:

Day 13: BLUE – the blue sky out my window at work

Day 14: HEART – the heart on my weekly planner page

Day 15: PHONE – my windows phone

Day 16: SOMETHING NEW – my new mouse pad

Day 17: TIME – time I {should} be at work, but I was still in the car

Day 18: DRINK – my adult beverage of choice, Chardonnay

Day 19: SOMETHING YOU HATE TO DO – blow dry my hair…ugh!

Day 20: HANDWRITING

Day 21: A FAVE PHOTO OF YOU – Carl and I in outside of Tavern on the Green in Central Park

DAY 22: WHERE YOU WORK

Day 23: YOUR SHOES – my zumba shoes

Day 24: INSIDE YOUR BATHROOM CABINET – the guest bath cabinet that had just been cleaned out by Carl

Day 25: GREEN – my green cutting mat and green paper cutter

Day 26: NIGHT – nightly habit of crocheting

Day 27: SOMETHING YOU ATE – 3 pieces of this fabulous homemade artisan bread

Day 28: SOMETHING YOU'RE LISTENING to – my fingers on the keyboard (quiet day at work!)

It was a really fun challenge, and I am excited to begin the March Challenge today!

Linking up with http://www.thehouseofsmiths.com/

Friday Photo Dump

I know I’m a little late to the party (what else is new?!!), but I decided to participate in the Photo a Day Challenge found {HERE}

 
 

I just joined in this week, so I’m already over a month behind.  Oh well.  Better late than never, right?

 

Here are my photos from the week:

Day 13:  {BLUE} – the sky outside my office window

Day 14:  {HEART} – page from my weekly planner

Day 15:  {PHONE} – my phone (duh!)

Day 16:  {SOMETHING NEW} – my super cute new mouse pad (bought here)

Day 17: {TIME} – the time I should be at work (I was just pulling in to the parking garage)

 

Want to join in the fun too?  You can find the details at {FATMUMSLIM}

Life

It seems that a little thing called LIFE has gotten in the way of this ol' blog of mine!

I've got a jillion post ideas knocking around in my head, but just haven't had the time to make any of them happen.

Some things keeping my busy right now:

• My father-in-law passed away last week
• We took a camping trip over Easter...and we are "city folk" who don't camp, so it was a bit of an undertaking to get ready for it!
• Madi is trying to finish her senior (and last) season of softball, but all the rain and snow delays, have put game on top of game, on top of game!  It's crazy!
• Madison is also graduation from high school next month (what? really?), so we are dealing with all things related to that!  Not to mention her last prom! 
• My day job seems to be much busier than normal too!

I just can't seem to get my act together right now!  Do you ever feel like that?  Like life is just too frenzied sometimes?  I'm hoping to get some posts together this weekend!  I've got lots of stuff to share...just no time!  Please be patient!  Things should be back to normal soon!

                                        Happy Friday!  Enjoy your weekend!

                                                                       

 

 

 

What I will be Celebrating this Spring! And a giveaway!

 
What will I be celebrating this Spring?

The graduation of my baby girl! 

 

This sweet girl will be graduating from high school next month.  It seems like only yesterday that I was dropping her off at preschool for her first day.  My how time flies!  We've had so many years of homework, field trips, science fairs (my nemesis), parent teacher conferences, report cards, school plays, etc. 

I can't believe it's almost over! 

Her senior year of high school has been one of the best years so far!  We've watched our little girl grow into and amazing young woman, with so much confidence, and such a good heart.  We've watched her cheerlead this year at football and basketball games, and watched her pitch for the varsity softball team.  We've watched her attend her last homecoming dance and will watch her go off to her final prom next month.  It is all so bittersweet!  As I ran something to school for her a few weeks ago, I admit I got a bit teary-eyed!  We've been a part of the high school community for the last 7 years (while our son was there too), and I just can't imagine not driving up the hill anymore. 

But, all good things must come to an end.  When one door closes, another one opens.  Madison has a bright future ahead of her with so many opportunities, experiences and adventures to be lived!  I am so excited for her and for what her future holds.

What are you celebrating this spring? 

Graduations?  Weddings?  Babies?

Check out these great ideas from Shutterfly:

Graduation Announcements

Birth Announcements

  

Now for the fun part!

 
I will be giving away 50 Shutterfly announcement cards to one lucky winner!  And also a Shutterfly 8" x 8" Photo Book to another winner!

 

Here how you can win!  Just leave me a comment on what you will be celebrating this spring!  Easy as pie, right?  I would also love it if you would consider becoming a follower of my blog!

I will select a winner on Saturday, April 16th!

GOOD LUCK!

Are you a blogger, too? Click here to register for a chance at 50 free announcements! This post is part of a series sponsored by Shutterfly. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.